1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to transport vehicles. More particularly, the invention concerns flat bed vehicular transport trucks of the character having removable side panels or gates that permit unrestricted side loading thereof.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Various types of truck trailers and truck beds for carrying a wide variety of loads are commonly in use. A quite common type of truck trailer is the so-called stake bed truck that provides a flat cargo area with no roof or permanently affixed sidewalls. These types of vehicles are typically used to carry heavy loads, generally of the character that can be loaded with a crane or fork lift truck.
To enable easy loading of the prior art flat bed trucks and trailers, the truck bed is often equipped with longitudinally spaced-apart, insertable side panels, or gates, that can be removed during loading and then reinstalled after loading to secure the load in place on the bed of the truck. Typically, the prior art gates are constructed from at least two vertically extending stakes that are telescopically receivable within longitudinally spaced-apart pockets provided along the sides of the truck bed. The vertical stakes are usually connected together by vertically spaced-apart wooden or metal slats that are typically about 4 to 6 feet long. As a general rule, the prior art gates vary in height between 12 and 96 inches and can weight up to 100 pounds or more.
The lifting, removing, and reinstalling of gates along the sides of the truck body is quite cumbersome and time-consuming and if incorrectly done, can cause serious injury. Accordingly, various other types of modified side gate constructions have been suggested in the past. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,544 discloses a semi-truck trailer having sidewalls formed by plurality of hinged sidepanels over which a tarpaulin can be tied. The side panels are hinged together so that each entire sidewall can be folded into the front portion of the trailer, thereby permitting use of the trailer as a flat bed. However, once the sidewalls are folded proximate with the forward end of the trailer and the load is positioned on the trailer bed, the walls cannot be repositioned along the sides of the truck bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,843 issued to Elliott describes a side loading trailer body having front, back, and sidewalls, a roof and a platform enclosing the interior of the trailer body. The side walls are formed by hingedly connected, side opening doors each of which, when opened, exposes the interior along the entire side of the body for loading purposes. The roof may be raised as required a predetermined distance above the walls. When the side doors have been opened and the roof raised, cargo loading and unloading can be accomplished using a conventional forklift type vehicle.